Chicago Bulls: 4 things that went wrong in Game 1 vs Bucks

3. Officials Were Suspect Down the Stretch

The playoffs are called tighter than the regular season, which forces the game to slow down. That’s normal. Referees like to have control of the game to avoid the high emotions tied to the escalated intensity from flaring up into anything non-basketball.

All of that is fine … until it leads to questionable calls that limit the play of stars. Both teams can say that their stars were hit with suspect fouls. LaVine and Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo each finished the game with five fouls.

Antetokounmpo, however, could’ve fouled out on three separate occasions in the final four minutes of the game. The worst missed call of that stretch came on a defensive rebound attempt by the Bulls.

https://twitter.com/NBCSBulls/status/1515877377624129546

Patrick Williams perfectly boxed out Antetokounmpo, but the Greek Freak leaned over Williams’ back to get the ball. That’s typically called an over-the-back and should’ve fouled Antetokounmpo out. Instead, the officials called the foul on Williams.

After that, the Bulls were able to get possession and score. The next three defensive possessions saw the Bulls take three charges. One was called a block on Brook Lopez and-one and the other two were no calls.

Each missed call cost the Bulls greatly.